Mercedes-Benz VIN · Factory options

Mercedes-Benz VIN decoder: the factory options by VIN

A Mercedes-Benz VIN identifies the maker, the type and the serial number. The trim, the options and the paint code are not in it — they are held by Mercedes-Benz against it, on the factory build sheet.

Mercedes-Benz build sheet by VIN or registration

The make, model, colour and year are shown free, before anything is charged.

The registration is enough. Prefer the VIN? It's on the V5C and at the base of the windscreen.

What you get

2022 Audi A4 40 TDI quattro

Paint

Daytona grey pearl effect

Also on the same sheet

Interior trim: Soul (black) (EI)
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic, quattro
Equipment codes: 182 items, by code and description

From a real build sheet. Most recent cars carry the paint code; for some older ones the manufacturer recorded only the colour name.

What can you find out from a Mercedes VIN?

It gives the manufacturer (WDB on most Mercedess), a description of the vehicle in Mercedes-Benz's own coding and the serial number. Its real use is as a key: with it you can retrieve Mercedes-Benz's factory build sheet, which lists the factory option codes with their descriptions, the paint and the trim. None of that is inside the number itself.

Mercedes-Benz manufacturer codes

Code (characters 1 to 3)	What it identifies
WDB	Mercedes-Benz — cars, the older series
WDD	Mercedes-Benz — cars
WDC	Mercedes-Benz — SUVs
W1K	Mercedes-Benz — cars from about 2019
W1N	Mercedes-Benz — SUVs from about 2019
W1V	Mercedes-Benz — vans from about 2019
WDF	Mercedes-Benz vans — Sprinter and Vito

Mercedes-Benz puts the model series — the Baureihe, the number owners and specialists use for a generation, such as W205 for a C-Class of that era — in characters 4 to 6 of the VIN. That is the most useful part of a Mercedes VIN: it tells you which generation and body you are looking at, which the model name alone does not.

Mercedes-Benz does not encode the model year at the tenth character on European VINs. Take the date from the V5C, not from the number.

What a Mercedes VIN cannot tell you

Not the trim, not the options, not the paint code, not the interior and nothing about the car's past. Those are not stored in the number. They are stored by Mercedes-Benz against the number, which is the distinction every VIN decoder glosses over.

That record is the factory build sheet. For a Mercedes it returns the paint name and usually its code, the trim, the gearbox and the factory option codes with their descriptions.

Paint: Daytona grey pearl effect (6Y)
Interior trim: Soul (black) (EI)
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic, quattro
Equipment codes: 182 items, by code and description

From a real build sheet for a 2022 Audi A4 40 TDI quattro. Most recent cars carry the paint code; on some older ones the manufacturer recorded only the colour name.

Where to look on the car first

Mercedes-Benz records the paint code on the data label, which is usually in the driver's door frame or under the bonnet on the slam panel, and on many cars in the service book. The full option list is not on that label.

If it is your own car, Mercedes me and a Mercedes-Benz retailer can both pull the original specification from the VIN. For cars built between 1986 and 2010, Mercedes-Benz Classic sells a Geburtsurkunde, a birth certificate for the car, quoted at about EUR 130 (mbpassion.de, August 2026).

If the label has gone, the book is missing or the car is not yours yet, the build sheet is the way to the same information — which is the common case when you are looking at a car to buy.

The 17 characters, in three blocks

A VIN (vehicle identification number) is always 17 characters, letters and digits, with I, O and Q left out so they cannot be confused with 1 and 0. The layout follows the international standard, ISO 3779:

Characters	Name	What they carry
1 to 3	WMI	The manufacturer and the region it built the car in — the first character gives the part of the world
4 to 9	VDS	A description of the vehicle in each maker's own coding: model, body, sometimes the engine. Many makers use the ninth as a check digit
10 to 17	VIS	The car itself: depending on the maker, the model year and the plant, then the serial number

The first character is the region: S to Z for Europe, J to R for Asia, 1 to 5 for North America. With the second it gives the country — W for Germany, S for the United Kingdom, V for France and Spain, Z for Italy, J for Japan, KM or KN for South Korea.

Other makes

VIN and factory options by make: Audi · BMW · Volkswagen · Vauxhall · MINI · Jaguar · Land Rover.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the W number in a Mercedes VIN mean?

Characters 4 to 6 carry the model series, the Baureihe — W205, W213, W177 and so on. It identifies the generation and body, which is why specialists ask for it rather than the model name. It does not identify the options.

Can I get a Mercedes build sheet free?

Not the full one. Mercedes me shows your own car's details if you are the registered owner, and a retailer will often look a specification up. There is no free public lookup that returns the factory option list from a VIN.

Where is the VIN on a Mercedes?

On the V5C, at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side, in the driver's door frame and stamped into the body. They should all read the same.

What does the Mercedes build sheet show?

The factory paint name and, on most recent cars, its code; the interior trim; the gearbox; and the factory option codes with their descriptions. It does not separate standard equipment from options, and it carries no list prices — whether an item cost extra depends on the model and trim.

How much is it, and what if there is no record?

£3.99 per vehicle, no account and no subscription. The amount is authorised on your card and taken only once the manufacturer's record comes back. If there is nothing on file, the authorisation is released and you are not charged.

Can I check the service history with the VIN too?

Yes, and on a Mercedes that is usually the more useful answer. The service history is what Mercedes-Benz's own dealer network recorded against the VIN — dates, mileages, the work done and the workshop. £9.99, and nothing to pay if we find no records.

Get the Mercedes-Benz build sheet

Paint, trim, gearbox and every option code Mercedes-Benz built into the car. £3.99, and nothing to pay if there is no record.

Get the build sheet · £3.99